Andrew Halcro, a former Alaska state representative and recent independent candidate for governor, announced Thursday that he will challenge longtime Rep. Don Young for the state's at-large House seat in the 2010 Republican primary.

Halcro made the announcement during an Alaska Support Industry Alliance gathering, according to the Anchorage Daily News and local media outlets.

He reportedly touched on the questions about Young's political ethics that plagued the incumbent -- Alaska's only House member since 1973 -- during his stormy 2008 re-election campaign. Halcro emphasized the fact that controversies surrounding the incumbent's ties to business interests and his fundraising practices prompted Young to surrender his senior positions on the House National Resources Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Democrat Ethan Berkowitz is now officially running for governor of Alaska in 2010 -- a race in which he hopes to expand upon the statewide base he built with his competitive 2008 challenge to veteran Republican Rep. Don Young, the state's only U.S. House member.

Berkowitz, who faces primary competition, is seeking to challenge interim Republican Gov. Sean Parnell. Parnell moved up from lieutenant governor on July 26 after incumbent Sarah Palin -- the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee -- resigned the office.

A Parnell-Berkowitz matchup would be a rematch of sorts, as both were lieutenant governor nominees, but they ran on gubernatorial tickets, Parnell with Palin and Berkowitz with Tony Knowles, a former governor who unsuccessfully sought a comeback in that race.

New Hampshire's state Democratic party released a web ad Wednesday comparing Republican state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte to Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin.

Ayotte on Tuesday announced her resignation as Attorney General to explore a bid for U.S. Senate. Palin on July 3 announced her resignation as governor and has left the door open to future political endeavors, including a presidential campaign in 2012.

Palin received harsh blowback from some colleagues for leaving office mid-session.

The Democratic Governors Association in a fundraising e-mail Tuesday highlighted Florida, Alaska, Georgia and Minnesota as 2010 takeover opportunities.

"We know we can take back the governor's mansion in every one of these states. But these are historically Republican seats, and in this crucial election, we won't win them without a fight," DGA National Political Director Ray Glendening wrote in the fundraising pitch.

Three of the races are open seat contests and in the fourth, Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin has yet to confirm her intention to seek re-election.

The Alaska Democrat who almost toppled Rep. Don Young last year is gearing up for another statewide race -- against Gov. Sarah Palin, if she chooses to run for re-election.

"My sights are now on the governor's race," Ethan Berkowitz, a former leader of the Democratic minority in the state House, said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

In 2008, Republican Young defeated Berkowitz by a 5 percentage-point margin -- a difference of 16,379 votes -- after easily topping his 2006 Democratic opponent by nearly 17 points and nearly 40,000 votes, and winning a landslide victory as recently as 2004 by nearly 50 points and 150,000 votes.

Two years before his 2008 House race, Berkowitz ran for lieutenant governor; the Republican ticket of Palin for governor and Sean Parnell for lieutenant governor defeated the Democratic ticket of former Gov. Tony Knowles and Berkowitz, 48.3 percent to 41 percent.